Use case

Hide US driver's license numbers in screen shares

6 min read

  • Smart Blur
  • United States
  • Screen sharing
  • Screenshots

Driver’s license numbers turn up on more screens than you’d think: insurance policies, car rentals, background checks, loan applications, patient intake, HR files. Share your screen to walk someone through one of those, or screenshot it for a support ticket, and the number goes along with it.

It feels less sensitive than a Social Security number. As far as the law is concerned, it mostly isn’t.

What the law says

Every state has a breach notification law, and they typically list a person’s name together with their driver’s license or state ID number as protected information, alongside SSNs and financial account numbers. If those details reach the wrong people, you may have to notify everyone affected.

License data has a federal law of its own, too. The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act stops state motor vehicle departments from disclosing personal information from driver records except for the purposes the Act allows. Businesses that get that information from a DMV, such as insurers, employers screening drivers and rental companies, can only pass it on for one of those same purposes.

Neither law was written with a screen share in mind. Still, the person whose number it is never agreed to have it shown to the people on your call, and if the meeting is recorded, anyone can pause the recording and read it.

Every state does it differently

There’s no national format. Each state sets its own, and they have very little in common: one letter and seven digits in California, eight digits in Texas, a letter and twelve digits in Florida. Some states print the number with dashes or spaces, and plenty of records systems store it without them.

Formats change, too. In July 2024, Florida started building new license numbers with at least four randomly generated digits, issued as people renew or replace their cards. The layout stayed the same, but anything that depended on the old structure, rather than just its shape, stopped working.

So most blur tools don’t bother, and Smart Blur’s built-in Patterns don’t either. They handle Social Security numbers, card numbers, phone numbers, emails and so on, but not license numbers. A New York number written as nine digits with no spaces happens to look like an SSN and gets blurred. Almost every other format stays visible.

Patterns for the six largest states

Smart Blur lets you add your own patterns for free. Each one below matches a state’s format with or without dashes and spaces.

StateFormatExamplePattern
California1 letter, 7 digitsA1234567\b[A-Z]\d{7}\b
Texas and Pennsylvania8 digits12345678, 12 345 678\b\d{2}[\s-]?\d{3}[\s-]?\d{3}\b
Florida1 letter, 12 digitsD123-456-78-901-0\b[A-Z](?:[\s-]?\d){12}\b
New York9 digits123 456 789\b\d{3}[\s-]?\d{3}[\s-]?\d{3}\b
Illinois1 letter, 11 digitsA123-4567-8901\b[A-Z](?:[\s-]?\d){11}\b

You only need the states you actually deal with. Texas and Pennsylvania share a row because both use eight digits; Pennsylvania just prints them as 12 345 678.

Two of these cast a wide net. Eight digits in a row also matches dates written 20261104 and lots of order numbers, and nine digits matches plenty of reference numbers. Usually that’s fine. A blurred order number costs you nothing, and a license number shown on a call can’t be taken back. If it does get in the way, limit the pattern to the sites where you handle license data (more on that below).

For a state that isn’t listed, look at a real license number in your own system, count the letters and digits, note their order, and write the pattern to match. Paste a sample into the test box before you add it. The custom patterns guide walks through writing one from scratch.

Adding them

In the Smart Blur panel, go to Settings → Patterns → Your own patterns, choose Write a regex, give the pattern a name (“California DL”) and paste it in.

For the ones that start with a letter (California, Florida and Illinois), untick Match upper and lower case so only capitals count. Licenses are printed in capitals, and this keeps ordinary lowercase codes from being caught.

Try it out in the Try it box with a few real samples, plus a few things that look similar but should stay visible, then click Add pattern. To keep one of the broad rules to your claims portal, HR system or rental software, tick Limit to specific domains or URLs and add its address.

Smart Blur is on by default, so the patterns apply straight away. If you’d rather keep it off during the day, Smart Blur Pro’s Share Shield switches it on when you start sharing from your browser.

Screenshots, scans and photos

For a screenshot, wait for the page to blur, then capture it with your usual tool. The blur is part of the image. Smart Blur Pro’s Screenshot button does both in one go, and there’s more on this in how to blur personal information in a screenshot.

Patterns only see text, though. Lots of systems keep a photo or scan of the license itself, and the number in that picture isn’t text. Cover it with Click or Draw before you share.

A license number is usually sitting next to an SSN or passport number, and those have their own post. Canadian licences work differently again; Ontario’s are covered alongside OHIP health card numbers.

This post explains the law in general terms and isn’t legal advice.

Sources